Statues find way into Pakistan

With the Taliban regime in Afghanistan beginning mass destruction of all statues in Afghanistan, including many dating back to the pre-Islamic Buddhist period, despite international protests, the trade in such artifacts has suddenly soared.

The destruction plan includes giant statues of Buddha, built into hillsides. One of these is the tallest Buddha in the world, built at the town of Bamiyan.

Whereas such massive statues are of course impossible to bring out from Afghanistan, the attempts to bring out smaller figures in bronze, friezes depicting scenes from the Buddhist Gandhara period, painstakingly carved out of stone and so on is increasing rapidly.

These friezes, typical of Gandhara art, and some of which date back to the 2nd century, are also to be destroyed under the Taliban edict, as they depict human figures. Some of these relics have landed up in Lahore, mainly with the several antique dealers located just off the Mall Road.

"The demand for such items from Afghanistan has suddenly soared, and we are trying also to obtain other such items for our customers in Lahore," a dealer, Yousaf, told Gulf News yesterday.

Yousaf deals with a relatively limited set of customers willing to pay well for his merchandise from a small shop crowded with antique furniture, carpets, shawls and Gandhara art. He also explains that there have been a "great many requests for items from Afghanistan from our foreign clients, as well as local collectors."

Though there is a bar on the smuggling of antiquities out of the country, this practice is known to be common with Western buyers taking home various items from the ancient city of Moenjodaro, the Gandhara period and later eras.

Some collectors travel specifically to the country for this purpose and a number have arrived recently to buy up items brought in from Afghanistan.

The fear that many antique statues in Afghanistan will soon be destroyed has led to a sudden expansion in interest in such items.

Pakistan has for the last decade remained a major outlet for relics from Afghanistan, given its largely open borders with areas of Afghanistan. Many items from Afghanistan were smuggled out over the last two decades and sold in Pakistan. There have also been allegations that some influential Pakistani politicians removed many artifacts from museums, mainly in Kabul, to add to their personal collections.

Former interior minister Naseerullah Babar is, for example, known to have many relics from Afghanistan at his home in the North-West Frontier Province. Reports say that two lions mounted at the gates of the house once stood outside Kabul's National Museum.

Given the huge concern from archaeologists and other international experts about the possible destruction by the Taliban of thousands of ancient treasures, and orders given that all such statues be smashed, smuggling from Afghanistan has increased.

"Even though any Afghan caught bringing out statutes faces serious punishments, under Islamic laws, people in the country are willing to risk this, because they are desperate for the money," explained Ahmed, another Lahore-based antique dealer who frequently travels up to Peshawar to collect Gandhara art in particular.